My eyes fluttered open to the dim glow of the forest, my body stiff against the cold earth. As consciousness returned, the clang of steel and pained grunts reached my ears. Through blurred vision, I saw Friena - her pink hair whipping through the air as she desperately fended off two monstrous figures, positioning herself between them and my prone form.
The shock of earlier still lingered in my mind, but this body's unnatural calmness helped me push through the panic. I needed to move, to help her - yet when I commanded my limbs to act, they refused. A primal terror had taken root in my muscles, locking every joint. My hands trembled violently against the dirt, my breath coming in shallow gasps as I watched the nightmare unfold.
'Damn it! Even knowing everything, I'm useless like this?!'
Friena was being driven back, her movements growing sluggish. Blood streaked her uniform, yet she stubbornly held their attention, buying time for someone who couldn't even stand. The sight tore at something deep within me.
Then it struck me - if my body wouldn't obey, I could still be her eyes. The novel's exhaustive bestiary flashed through my mind - every weakness, every fatal flaw I could remember.
Although my memory isn't crystal clear, I could still mark out flaws, perhaps due to the heightened sense during such a crucial moment
"Friena!!!" My voice ripped through the clearing, raw and desperate. "The bear's armpits! One clean strike!"
To her credit, she reacted instantly. Mid-parry, her blade twisted upward in a silver arc, finding the hidden weak point with surgical precision. The monstrous bear like monster shuddered, then collapsed like a marionette with cut strings.
No time to celebrate. The katana-wielding humanoid lunged, its blade whispering death. I remembered this foe - the one that had given even the protagonist such trouble.
It took Clawd, a grueling few hours of non stop fighting to precisely pinpoint the weakness and ultimately fell the ominous monster.
'Clawd...whatever you are in this world, your prior struggles won't be wasted.'
Through gritted teeth, I called out the precise angles and targets - upper abdomen first, then a specific vertebrae.
"Upper abdomen! Then the third spinal segment!" I barked instructions between heaving breaths.
Friena moved with terrifying precision, her sword becoming an extension of my knowledge.
When the final monster fell, the forest fell silent save for our ragged breathing. An hour had passed in what felt like moments. Friena stood amidst the carnage, her chest heaving, blade dripping with otherworldly ichor. Even battered and bleeding, she radiated an undeniable presence - the kind that marked her as someone destined for greatness.
These weren't just any monsters—they were Eldoria Academy's elite training beasts, each designed to require a full team of skilled nobles to defeat. The kind where veteran instructors would consider it a success if four students working together merely survived the encounter. Yet here was Friena, having slaughtered two of them single-handedly while protecting dead weight like me.
That's when it truly hit me—the main cast's strength wasn't just impressive. It defied all reasonable limits. While normal students struggled in groups, people like Friena treated academy death-traps like warm-up exercises. And to think, this was probably just her baseline.
"Klare..." Her voice was hoarse from exertion, but her eyes shone with something I couldn't quite place. "How did you...?"
I could only offer a weak smile, my body still trembling with aftershocks. The answer was too complicated - how could I explain that I'd essentially cheated fate using knowledge from a story that might not even exist here? For now, surviving this night was enough.
"Don't worry about the details," I murmured, forcing a weak smile. "Just useless book knowledge." My throat tightened as I continued, "But earlier... I never meant to become dead weight, Friena. To force you into that position—I'm truly sorry."
She stepped closer, her usual sparkle softened by something warmer as she pressed a finger to my lips. "That's what friends do," she whispered. "Who else would save your reckless self? I chose to protect you because I care. So stop treating me like some acquaintance and quit apologizing."
My eyes fell to the trampled leaves beneath us. "Alright," I conceded, the word bitter on my tongue. 'Even knowing the danger, I'd frozen. What good were plans when I couldn't move?'
Her calloused hand suddenly enveloped mine, pulling my gaze upward. "Out with it," she demanded, her grip firm. "What's going through that stubborn head of yours? Whatever scheme you're brewing, let me help properly this time."
I hesitated, watching firelight dance across her determined face. 'Could I really derail her destiny just for my own survival? will that even benefit my survival in the long run?' "Every plan I had is dust now," I admitted hoarsely. "You saw the truth—I'm not cut out for this world like you are."
Something cool and heavy pressed into my palm. The golden orb's surface reflected our tired faces.
"Consider yourself passed," she declared, her familiar grin breaking through like sunlight. "So stop agonizing. Just... don't vanish like that again." Her voice caught as understanding dawned. "When you left so suddenly... you weren't rejecting me, were you? You were ashamed. Ashamed of needing time to prepare when everyone else seemed so strong right?"
'It looks like she is heavily misunderstanding my reasonings but, with how things are I think its best I l leave it that way'
"I guess you could call it that. I am sorry"
'He didn't leave because of me unlike everyone else,' she realized with sudden clarity, watching my averted eyes. 'He left because he thought himself weak. Because he couldn't bear to show that vulnerability.' The realization ached in her chest.
The orb's weight seemed to grow as her unshakable trust sank in. "I'll never understand why you'd risk everything for someone like me," I muttered. "But since you're insisting... don't come complaining when you regret this."
Her answering laughter rang through the dark woods, but her eyes held something new—something tender and knowing. "In your dreams, Klare."
'I do feel bad about changing her path. But I'll just make sure she gets back on track myself in a way that doesn't endanger me. Shouldn't be too difficult.'
Right now, all that mattered was surviving the immediate threat. The second night was fading fast, giving way to the dreaded third day - when the fallen angel would begin its rampage. The novel had been frustratingly vague about the timing; the protagonist had simply stumbled upon it mid-attack.
I wasn't the hero of this story. No special powers, no grand destiny. My only goal was to turn in this orb and make it out alive.
Venturing through the forest at night would be suicide, so morning departure it was.
"Friena," I began, meeting her gaze, "when the time's right, I'll explain everything properly. But for now... would you settle for just part of the plan?"
The request tasted bitter after everything she'd done for me. But some truths were too dangerous to share - like knowing exactly how tomorrow might unfold.
A flicker of sadness crossed her face, but she nodded without hesitation.
"I get it. Some things are better kept hidden for now." She forced a small smile. "Let's just focus on getting back. No point sticking around another day, right?"
"Right. We leave at first light."
Time slipped by, and soon the sun's glow showed itself again. The once oppressive darkness of the forest softened into shafts of golden light—god rays piercing through the leaves, painting the mist in an ethereal glow. The air itself felt lighter, the morning calm almost deceptive in its serenity.
With Friena as my shield and the orb as my ticket out, everything was finally falling into place. For the first time since this nightmare began, I felt the tension in my shoulders ease. Maybe, just maybe, I could afford to lower my guard.
We set off toward the academy, the weight of survival momentarily lifted. I briefly considered scaling the trees again—but five hours of climbing would risk putting us right in the fallen angel's path. No, better to move quietly along the ground, even if it meant slower progress.
An hour passed in cautious steps. Friena's injuries made the trek harder than expected, her movements stiff with pain. Yet, just ahead, the tree line thinned, revealing the open field where this trial had begun. The starting platform stood in the distance, a beacon of safety.
So close.
Yet so impossibly far.
What awaited us wasn't safety. Wasn't salvation.
Just a pair of smoldering crimson eyes materializing from the tree line.
Of course.
My luck wouldn't settle for anything less than catastrophic.